Unique, personalised and memorable celebrant-led wedding, commitment and elopement ceremonies
Your wedding ceremony, your way
Weddings are an opportunity to let the love that you and your partner share really shine out and be reflective of your personalities. Every couple is unique, with different preferences for their ceremony.
As your wedding celebrant, I’m here to create a one-off, unforgettable and totally personalised wedding ceremony perfectly tailored to YOU. I don’t use templates or set scripts; I write every ceremony from scratch. I’ll work closely with you to ensure the ceremony I write for you is special, distinctive and one of a kind, weaving in elements of tradition, symbolism and spirituality as required.
Why choose a celebrant-led wedding?
If all this hasn’t persuaded you yet, then let me elaborate!
Weddings conducted in a place of worship or those that take place in a registry office generally follow a set format and must adhere to certain ‘rules’. For example, having a religious ceremony may mean that you cannot write your own vows and a civil ceremony cannot include any religious elements. This can restrict couples and mean that they don’t get the wedding that they really want.
Going down the more traditional route can mean that couples can also be limited in terms of venue; civil ceremonies can only take place in licenced premises. All of this means that many couples may ultimately have less choice and less of a say in their wedding ceremony than they would like.
With me as your wedding celebrant, your ceremony can be exactly how you want it and where you want it to be. You don’t want to marry in church but you do want to include a hymn? Or do you want a completely non-religious wedding ceremony? You can! Would you like to include unusual wedding readings and/or get your wedding guests involved in the ceremony? Yes, you can!
Would you love an elegant country house wedding? A wedding in a five-star luxury hotel? I’d love to help. An elopement ceremony in a field? I’ve got you. Renewing your vows in a forest? Getting married on a mountain? Have you always wanted a beach wedding or to exchange vows on a boat? Getting hitched on a farm? Let me help! Are you interested in including a meaningful ritual such as handfasting, sand or water blending, ring warming or oathing stone? No problem! (and I don’t charge extra for this).
The sky is the limit! I love an unconventional wedding, as well as a more traditional wedding. Wherever you want your wedding ceremony to take place and whatever you are looking for in a ceremony, let’s talk about how we can make it happen.
Check out my blog pages for more on outdoor weddings.
Image by Mati Krawczyk Wedding Photography
I only conduct one ceremony per day, so when you book me as a celebrant, I can be completely flexible regarding ceremony time – I don’t use time slots! My fee for 2023/2024 wedding ceremonies conducted within 30 miles of Basingstoke, Hampshire is £750. Any additional costs for travel or equipment will be discussed and agreed at the time of booking. Please get in touch to discuss your requirements.
Included in these costs are:
An initial ‘getting to know you’ meeting, where we talk about your vision for your ceremony, any plans you have made so far and any ideas or preferences you have. I’ll also send you a questionnaire about you and your relationship for you to fill in and send back to me.
A second meeting, during which we will go through the first draft of your ceremony script to get your feedback and make any changes you require as well as talking about your big day in more detail.
A totally unique wedding ceremony script written and delivered by me on the day and incorporating your love story and everything we discussed, agreed with you and amended as required by you.
Any symbolic rituals you have chosen to incorporate, such as handfasting, unity candle, oathing stone, sand or water ceremony (to name a few).
Help with writing your vows, (if requested).
Script preparation, including all edits to the script.
A ceremony run through or rehearsal, (if requested), subject to venue location.
A commemorative certificate and presentation script, if you would like one.
Are you looking for a ceremony where you’re surrounded by nature or even that beach ceremony beside a tropical blue sea? Maybe you would like a luxury indoor wedding ceremony at an elegant country house or an informal commitment ceremony at an historic venue. Whatever you are looking for in a wedding ceremony, I’d love to help you make it a day to remember.
What is included in the costs?
Can a wedding celebrant perform the legal part of a ceremony?
At present, a celebrant cannot perform the legal formalities for a marriage or civil partnership.* Within England and Wales, the good news is that the legal registration of your marriage can be undertaken separately - and inexpensively – either on the same day as your celebrant-led ceremony or at a local registry office with just two witnesses. This is a similar process to registering a baby’s birth and then having a Christening/Baptism or Naming Ceremony to celebrate. Although costs and processes differ between registration districts, if you inform your local register office that you would like a celebrant-led ceremony on the same day as your legal ceremony, they will be able to discuss the options available to you. If your registrar is willing, I would be happy to help work alongside them, in order to make the process as easy and stress-free as possible for both of you.
You don’t need vows or rings to legally register your marriage, and instead you can choose to include these as part of your celebrations on your big day. Often, if couples choose to legally formalise their wedding or civil partnership, they do this ahead of time, but this can also be done later. More details can be found here.
*The law may be changing soon! See my blog post about the proposed changes to wedding law in England and Wales for more details.
